'Very bad for the US. This will change': Trump fires back at Germany, Merkel in tweet

President Donald Trump fired back Tuesday amid a wave of criticism from Germany, adding to apparently strained relations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military," Trump tweeted. "Very bad for U.S. This will change."

The tweet comes following remarks by Merkel on Sunday that appeared to stress a need to pivot away from the US and the UK.

"The times in which we could fully rely on others are partly over. I have experienced this in the last few days," Merkel said at a campaign event in Germany. "We Europeans really have to take our destiny into our own hands."

Trump's tweet reflects his frequent criticism of trade deficits. Trump has used trade deficits with China, Mexico, Canada — and now Germany — as examples of "bad trade deals" for the US. According to the US Census Bureau, the US had a $64.9 billion goods trade deficit with Germany in 2016.

Trump also criticized Germany's trade surplus during a meeting with European Union officials on Thursday, according to the German news outlet Der Spiegel. Trump said the country was "very bad" on trade, and he took issue with German cars being imported into the US.

The comments were confirmed by Gary Cohn, the National Economic Council director and White House adviser. "He said they're very bad on trade, but he doesn't have a problem with Germany," Cohn told reporters at the G-7 summit in Sicily.

Trump has frequently criticized members of NATO, including Germany, for not hitting an agreed-upon threshold of 2% of gross-domestic-product spending toward defense.